In the movie bin, some some news of a Batman Begins teaser (and a first look at Liam Neeson), and James Cameron speaks about his top-secret 3D Sci-Fi project, now starring Brian Cox. If Cameron is really serious about resurrecting 80’s action film stars, one of his favorites, Michael Biehn, is probably waiting by the phone…
Tag: Batman Begins
Mad as a Batter.
Newsweek visits the set of Batman Begins, and offers up a few new pictures of the Caped Crusader, including one of a pre-Scarecrow Cillian Murphy getting a severe talking-to from the Long-Eared one. ‘Bout time we saw the villains, no?
Man-Bat Stalks Gotham.
The official Batman Begins site and Entertainment Weekly give us our first look at the new Dark Knight. Hmm…this seems ok. I’d prefer longer ears and less of a hockey-pad feel to his shoulders and knees, but it’s hard to say anything more until we see Bats move around.
(Bat)Man about Town.
Ok, it’s just Christian Bale in a suit. Still, if you suspend belief, you’ve got the first look at Batman Begins Bruce Wayne here. In related news, the official site, in an attempt to keep the fanboy buzz happy, put up a few shots of the new Batmobile online last week. Hmm…it looks like a cross between a monster truck and the troop transport in Aliens.
In the Batroom.
Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins gets even more star-laden with the additions of Tom Wilkinson and Rutger Hauer to Gotham City. Apparently, Wilkinson’s a crime lord, while Hauer’s scheduled to attempt a hostile takeover of Wayne Enterprises. Are we going to have enough screen time for all these folks?
Gordon is Bleeding.
Batman Begins starts production in Iceland, with the final casting announcement of Gary Oldman as Sgt. (future Commissioner) Gordon. I really liked Aaron Eckhart for this role, but Oldman should be grand, provided he doesn’t go all Professional-crazy.
The Ras Samurai.
Ok, so it looks like Liam Neeson isn’t Ras Al Ghul in the new Batman film: Instead, it’s Ken Watanabe of The Last Samurai (Solid casting.) Apparently, Neeson is Bruce Wayne’s mentor, Henri Ducard. Nope, never heard of him either.
Crazy like a Fox.
The forthcoming Nolan Batman adds Morgan Freeman to the mix as “Lucius Fox, a respected businessman and the CEO of billionaire Bruce Wayne’s mega-conglom, based in Gotham City.” (If this is some character from the comics, I’ve never heard of him.) Also, Neeson is confirmed as Ras Al Ghul, meaning the only high-profile character left is Commissioner Gordon (which Chris Cooper, sadly, already turned down.)
Qui-Gon to Ras Al?
In more good news on the Batman front, Liam Neeson is set to play a villain, most likely Ras Al Ghul to Cillian Murphy’s Scarecrow. Well, so much for Viggo, but I still like this casting. I just hope Christian Bale can get back into Bruce Wayne-shape after getting creepily thin for The Machinist. Update: Has Nolan found Arkham Asylum?
Gotham’s Finest.
While unconfirmed, an interesting scoop for the Nolan Batman (apparently titled Batman: Intimidation) has recently emerged online: Apparently, neither Viggo nor Cillian Murphy are playing the villains – they have yet to be cast. In fact, Viggo is somebody named Judson Caspian (apparently, Katie Holmes’s father…I dunno, this sounds like Ras Al Ghul/Talia to me), while Murphy is playing a young Harvey Dent (a.k.a. Two-Face, previously portrayed by Billy Dee Williams in the first Batman and hammed into the ground by Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever.) More intriguing still, the scooper says Chris Cooper is on for Commissioner Gordon. (Michael Caine is already squared away as Alfred.) Perhaps it’s all fanboy wishful thinking…but that sounds like great casting.